YULE
(circa December 21)(Winter Solstice, December 20-23 (varies according
to the particular date on the standard calendar according to when the Solstice
will occur astronomically)). Longest night of the year, the turning
point when the days shall afterwards grow longer as winter begins its passage
into the coming spring. It is, in the Goddess worship, the time when she
gives forth again to the birth of the Divine Sun child who shall be both
child and eventually lover and father of the next child in the cycle. Winter
Solstice for pagans is a time of feasting and the exchanging of gifts and
is the original Holiday that the Christian religions modified into their
own Christmas, even up to the birth of the child (Most theologians who
have spent time studying the birth of Jesus admit he was born in either
March or April, not the celebrated Christmas date we all know from the
standard calendar - it was moved to this date to help induce Pagans to
give up their old ways yet allow them their holidays during the spread
of Christianity through Europe and the British Isles). Traditional
adornments are a Yule Log, usually of oak, and a combination of mistletoe
and holly (also all later plagiarized into Christian ways).

IMBOLC
(February 2)(Candlemas, Brigid's Day) Not common to all Pagans,
this is very popular with Wiccans and various Celtic sects. Brigid is the
Celtic goddess of fire and inspiration (Poetry, smithcraft and healing)
as well as yet another representation of the Fertility of Femininity and
Love. Brigid had such a strong following among the Celtics that the
Christian church decided it was easier to assimilate her into their own
system, and so there came about the making of Saint Brigit and all the
stories they created about her so that her followers would leave their
old beliefs enough so they would not side with the Druids, who were known
at that time as 'the snakes' because of their tendency to have tamed snakes
that were used to help produce various healing mixtures via their venom,
and who were violently opposing the Catholic church. In History,
of course, the druids lost against the overwhelming odds presented by the
church, led by a man who would then be himself sainted by the church, their
Saint Patrick (who was no clergyman but a warrior). Thus Christian rule
of various sorts came into Ireland. Handcrafts are often sacrificed to
Brigid or dedicated to her as they are started on this day. Its celebration
is done with many candles and as usual much feasting. The Christians
also took, moved slightly and used this date by creating St. Valentine
and using the day for one of chaste love reflections. Imbolc marks
the recovery of the Goddess after birth of the God. The warmth of the power
of the God fertilizes the Earth and so the earliest beginnings of spring
occur. This is a sabbat of purification, a festival of light and fertility.
Tis also a traditional time for initiations into covens and self-dedication
rituals. Also known as: Feast of Pan, Feast of Torches, Oimelc.

OSTARA
(circa March 21) (Eostar, Spring Equinox, March 20-23 dependent
on actual astronomical event) The Goddess blankets the Earth with fertility
as the God stretches and grows to maturity. The hours of day and night
are equal and light is overtaking darkness. This is a time of beginnings,
action, planting spells, and of tending the gardens. This is the
start in the pagan year of spring, at least among Wiccans and Celtics.
The first flowers are praised and the God and Goddess thanked for the true
return to happier times for all. Ostara is one of the more colorful holidays,
not one of the somber colors found in Yule and Candlemas. Feasting and
socializing are the important factors in this holiday as well as the celebration
of the return of color to the natural world. In the Christian calendar,
again to draw early worshipers, they marked this as the final days and
rebirth of Jesus (when according to history he died in June!)

BELTANE
(MAY 1)(May Eve, April 30th-May 1st) Most important
to pagans, save for Samhain, I don't know of any Pagan group that
doesn't celebrate this holiday in some way. Beltane is the great
Fertility rite of life, starting at dusk on the 30th and continuing until
the dawn of the 1st. The union of the God and Goddess to conceive
the sun-child to be takes place upon this holiday, no matter which tradition
of paganism is involved. Beltane is the one holiday most discouraged by
the Christians, who didn't even use it as a point for a holiday of their
own because the power and nature of the day involved. Still, even in Christianized
Ireland the May day dance of the Maypole remained, as did the giving of
flowers to those you loved or cared for as friends. The Maypole
is a symbol of the union of the God and Goddess to create life, the pole
itself a phallic symbol while the dancers and their streamers or vines
of flowers represent the fertile womb of the goddess as it takes in the
Phallus of the god and takes in his seed. Besides the Maypole often a bonfire
is present, and members of the group are encouraged to jump the flames
for luck and their own fertility. Food, drink and love are the order of
the evening. In most sects the celebration of unions of love are enacted.
Beltane is the time of many marriages/handfastings in the pagan community
(in some it is the point where one chooses to begin and end relationships
of a physical nature). Clothing is very optional in most get-togethers
on this holiday, and mostly it is sensual and colorful. Even those
sects that are prudish about things tend to accept the rules of the holiday,
as it is the holiday of free love. It is said that a child conceived on
this day will grow up to wield great power and knowledge and to be healthier
than upon any other.

LITHA(circa
June 21)(Midsummer, Summer Solstice, June 20-23, dependent
on actual astronomical event) Held on the longest day of the year, the
Solstice is the celebration of light's triumph over darkness and that of
the bountiful beauty that light brings into life. Flowers are common in
the circle, roses and bright cheerful wildflowers are upon the altar and
usually worn by all. It is the changing point of the year,
and the celebration of the spiral dance of the year is common among Wiccans.
It a celebration with much joy, and much feasting. Many wiccans will attire
themselves in bright colors and equally bright adornments of flowers. Litha's
usual food fare may include honeycakes or cornbread. Litha is not celebrated
by all sects nor in the same way. In the past, bonfires were leapt
to encourage fertility, purification, health and love. Midsummer is a classic
time for magick of all kinds.

LUGHNASSADH(August
1)The great corn ritual of Wiccan belief (in Celtic
realms this is the celebration of the wheat god, corn is an Americanization
and it is possible there is an American Indian traditional holiday near
this date that was borrowed by the American Neopagans). This is the big
celebration of the harvest (Sort of a Pagan Thanksgiving, but the time
clock is different as is that of the Celtics). Much feasting
and dancing occur, though it is a bit more somber than many of the other
holidays. Some Pagans celebrate this day as mearly the day to bake
their bread and cakes for the coming winter and do no actual rituals save
that of blessing the foods prepared. Pagans see this as a time when
the God loses his strength as the Sun rises farther south each day and
the nights grow longer. The Goddess watches in sorrow and joy as she realizes
the the God is dying yet lives on inside her as her child. As summer passes,
Wiccans remember its warmth and bounty in the food we eat. This sabbat
is also called Lammas, August Eve, Feast of Bread, and this writers birthday!
(I am a bit conceited that I was born on this day! Just ask my wife!)

MABON
(circa September 21)(Fall Equinox, Sept. 20-23, dependent on actual
astronomical event) A lesser holiday, this is not widely celebrated
and is most come with pure Wiccan groups, especially those who are based
in the works of Starhawk and other Dianic sects. This is the weavers festival,
and a braiding of cords are done in the process of casting a spell to add
to ones life from what it is, each person weaving unto themselves what
they wish and the coven as a whole weaving all the cords together to unite
the power and efforts symbolically. The autumn equinox is the completion
of the harvest begun at Lammas. Once again the day and night are equal
as the God prepares to leave the body and the begin the great adventure
into the unseen, toward renewal and rebirth of the Goddess.

SAMHAIN(October 31)At Samhain, the Wicca say farewell to the God
even though he readies to be reborn at Yule. This grand sabbat, also known
as Feast of the Dead ,Feast of Apples, All Hallows, and of course Halloween,
once marked the time of sacrifice. This was the time when animals were
slaughtered to ensure food throughout the winter. The God fell as well
to ensure our continuing existence. This is a time of reflection and coming
to terms with the one thing in life which we have no control - death. Wiccans
feel that on this night the separation between the physical and spiritual
realities is it's least guarded and it's veil the thinnest. It is
a time for dimensional openings and workings, and also the celebration
of the death of the year king. It is a somber holiday, one of dark clothes
and thoughts for the dead, it is said to be the time when those of
necromantic talents can speak with the dead and it is certainly a time
to remember ones dead. It is a time of endings of relationships and bad
situations and it is the time when one can see the glimmer of hope in the
future. There are as many concepts attached to this holiday as any other,
truly a time of remembrance of our ancestors and all those who have gone
before.